romney said his plan will deliver that change. >> well, if you, like, me could do better and you believe america should be on a better course, if you're tired of being tired, then i ask you to vote and to work for real change and make that happen tomorrow. >>reporter: the president and governor romney raised a combined $2 billion on the campaign trail. tara mergener, for cbs news, the white house. now, 9 news spoke with representatives from both the obama and romney campaigns, and as you can expect, both believe they have done enough to win the minds of the undecided voters and win the important swing states to win the oval office. >> we feel like we've done a great effort in the leadup to election day, we think that we're in a very strong position today to win virginia and make governor romney president this evening. >> we had an incredit credible rally in northern virginia this weekend with 25,000 voters. there's no doubt that virginia

is a belle wether state and a -- a bell wether state and a swing state. the president was losing 800,000 jobs jobs, in the middle of a foreclosure crisis, we've made so much progress. >> looking at the recent overall public polls, president obama has a slight edge of three percentage points. according to the president's campaign, the latest poll has him up by one percentage point. both of those are within the margin of error. this is going to be close. and we have an update for you on the lawsuit about poll watchers in fairfax county. the suit focused on new training guidelines for the people who are typically at voting precincts to answer any voter questions. the judge in the case ruled that the poll watchers cannot be forced to sit silently in a corner. in montgomery county, some voters tell 9 news they've received a second copy of their absentee ballots in the mail. the second ballot was mailed out because a few of the initial ballots were missing a

page which covered ballot questions 4-7. the board of elections says if you did receive two ballots and if you send them both back, your second set is the one which will be counted. now, in addition to the presidential race and some local races, there are some important contests on the ballot. in maryland, one of the most controversial in a gay marriage proposal. if it passes, the state of maryland will be the first to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. marylanders will also vote on a so-called dream act. if it passes, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to pay in-state tuition rates at local community colleges. there's also question seven which would allow for a casino in prince george's county and table games in five other gambling venues. we'll have more on question seven coming up in about 10 minutes. in virginia the polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in maryland and in the district they're open from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. you can learn more about the local candidates, the races, the ballot questions, all on

wusa9.com. click on campaign 2012. and don't forget to join us throughout the day for complete coverage on all the races. elsewhere in the northeast, concerns are being raised about voting. in new jersey, several watchdog election groups are questioning security in letting displaced voters submit plats by mail, e- mail or -- ballots by mail, e- mail or even fax. they say unless the state clarifies the rules, they may sue. new york city plans to use shuttle buses to transport voters to the polls. new york and new jersey are allowing displaced residents to cast a provisional ballot for president and statewide office holders in any polling place. the uncertainty of voting tonight comes as authorities in both localities, new york and new jersey prepare for a nor'easter which is making its way toward the east coast. officials say the storm could slow efforts to restore power to the nearly 2 million people who are still without electricity. cold weather has made it hard for the people who lack heat or are now homeless. the storm is expected to pri winds of up to 55 miles an hour

and there could also be more coastal flooding, as much as two inches along the shore and several inches of snow in pennsylvania and upstate new york are predicted. one week after superstorm sandy, hundreds of residents in krisfield, maryland are still without a permanent home. 126 units the summer's cove apartments were evacuated and flooded there. that means 168 people are in temporary housing. officials say chrisfield was hit harder than any place else in the state. the residents are now at a local community center. residents in western maryland are without power. 2 1/2 feet of snow was a big factor there. more than 2200 homes and businesses are still in the dark after the superstorm. potomac ed sane says they expect -- edison says they expect everyone to have their power back at sometime today. the department is working with the state of new york and local food banks to distribute 1.1 million pounds of food to victims in new york.

the usda provided a similar donation to victims in new jersey as well. the department has approved requests from connecticut, maryland, new york, rhode island and virginia to reimburse food stamp recipients in certain counties for food lost in the storm. and many of our neighbors are stepping up to help sandy victims. people in oakton, virginia donated coats, blankets, shoes and other badly needed apparel. the donations were enough to fill two large trucks. today those trucks will head to new york. that collection was organized by the cherch of jesus christ of latter day saints. there's a quick and easy way you can help the victims of sandy. just go to the wusa9 facebook page and like us. for everyone who does, we will donate a dollar to the american red cross sandy relief fund. so far the american red cross has taken in nearly $85 million. that money is going to shelters, food, water and relief supplies. here's a look at some of the other stories making news now this morning. investigators are searching

through the missing persons database, trying to find the identity of a badly decomposed body. it was discovered saturday near some power lines in spotsylvania. police say they're unable to tell the person's race or gender. right now the death is being considered suspicious. a deadly accident object bre led to delays for people trying to get home last night. at about 7:30 last night a person was struck on the train tracks on cherry hill road in prince george's county. no word yet on the victim's identity. some passengers were stuck on the train for two hours until another train could get to them to continue their trip home. 4:36, chilly, but a nice day waking up to election day today. most of the country will see it that way. howard will be back with your election day forecast. what will question 7 mean to you if it's approved and what will happen if it's rejected. jessica doyle is up next to break it all down for us. well tell you why congress is looking into the meningitis outbreak.

>> 9 news now is back in just two minutes.

nour:39 on this election morning. freeze warnings until 9:00. the growing season ending for just about all of us. cloudy early, otherwise a decently sunny day. highs near 50. by 6:00 some high clouds starting to move in. temperatures back in the mid- 40s. sunset today 5:02. monica. in manassas on the south side of i-66 lanes are open just south of this point, though, balls ford road at route 234 completely shut down with serious accident involving a truck and a diesel fuel spill. keep that in mind for your travel plans. i'll have more information coming up in the next report at 4:47. back to you, guys. >> thanks, monica. in our campaign 2012 coverage, we go to jessica

doyle. she's at the election wall. >> i can't wait to see the election wall. they're looking at question 7 in maryland. there it is. nice reveal, jessica. over to you. >>reporter: thanks so much. question 7 is a referendum on the ballot in maryland. if passed it would greatly expand table gaming in maryland, by adding table games at current and planned spots. it would increase the statewide cap on slots, and it would allow an additional casino, possibly in prince george's county. now, if you vote yes, that means more gambling, simply. supporters say a yes vo will boost the maryland education trust fund, tens of millions of dollars from these new revenue streams. they also argue that jobs are going to be created, a new casino will help transform nawcial harbor into a full- blown resort destination. if you vote known, the current constitutional limitations regarding gambling would stand. opponents say the revenue from this will not go to boost maryland's schools. they also say it's going to go into the education trust to be

used to free up existing revenue streams for other purposes. the new measure also allows tax rates to go lower for casinos and they're arguing not as many jobs are going to be generated as the supporters claim. there is a big caveat to question 7 as well that you need to know about. it's the voters of prince george's county -- if the voters of prince george's county vote no, the table games will go to other casinos. the location committee has the power to still put a new casino in prince george's county, no matter what county voters want. so that is a very important caveat for people to consider. and that brings you up to date on question 7. i'm going to send it back to you guys. >> all right, jessica, thank you. well, do you believe in the redskins rule? some think it's just a coincidence. >> or could it be superstition. it's kind of eerie. coming up we're going to examine what the skin's loss this past sunday has to do with the election day outcome. keep it here.

good morning, welcome back to 9 news now. it is 4:44 this tuesday morning. it's election day, no excuses, the weather is going to be a little chilly, but get out there and exercise your right to vote. rain, sleet, snow, shine. >> yeah, get the jackets or the sunglasses, you'll be fine here today. tomorrow we got a nor'easter we're dealing with. but even that looks like it's going to scoot just enough far east of us that we'll just get a glancing blow. a little bit more concerned about it yesterday than i am today. here's a look at day planner this morning. no bus stop forecast, school is out today. temperatures starting chilly in the 30s. in fact, some 20s. we heard from one of our weather watchers in meyersville, 26 up on the hill in northern maryland. 46 by lunchtime. we'll have a chance to make 50 degrees maybe this afternoon. forecasting a high right about 49 at 4:00 p.m. still 46 or, again 46 after topping out at 49. and by 8:00, clouds are

starting to move in, 43 degrees. and with the clouds moving in tonight, we won't be as cold as this morning where we're down to 27 in gaithersburg, cumberland. it's 28 in culpepper. easton 29 as well this morning and our weather watchers, buoy, prince fredrick all reporting frosty conditions out there this morning. now, outside on our michael and son weather camera, tough to see, we got a few clouds out there, but really good visibility, 35 degrees, very light winds, so, really, not much of a wind chill this morning which is a good thing, and the humidity up at 70%. cold air is in place across the great lakes, up through new england and the mid-atlantic, and this is a pretty important thing because we do have a nor'easter that will be coming up and just enough cold air that snow is going to be part of the forecast. a little system coming through the minnesota area now, but this system spinning low pressure over toward atlanta, trailing front producing showers and storms down in the gulf of mexico. this is going to hit the carolina coast and move up the

coast, and that means rain and snow and wind and waves along the coast. now, for us it looks like this is just going to be far enough east that we're just going to get a glancing blow 0. we're good through 5:00 today, a couple of clouds start building south and east. you notice north and west no real problems. in fact, west of town, i don't think you'll see much from this. tomorrow morning we've got some rain along the coast. the cold air is in place, just cold enough. so as this moisture comes up, look, trying to get some rain or snow or a mix developing here across the eastern shore in jersey, and it looks like the snow may be heavy enough as we get into the evening hours and wednesday night across parts of interior new jersey, southeast pennsylvania, northern delaware, there could be several inches of accumulation here, but hardly any moisture gets d.c. or west. we could just have a couple of showers or some wet snowflakes the way it looks now. not expecting much in the way of problems. by thursday morning, there's the storm starting to pull away from the region, so sunshine will return during the day on thursday. still going to be brisk, but after this storm leaves, we've

got a nice warmup headed our way. want to show you the battleground state forecast here because there are no problems with voting in nevada or in colorado. wisconsin may see a cold rain or some wet snow there. wausau at 38, dubuque could see some showers. ohio looks good, new hampshire looks good, just cold. virginia, north carolina all right, although southern and western north carolina a couple of showers. and in florida, jacksonville and orlando some showers and storms. the rest of the state looks pretty good west and south. 49 today, chilly. tonight we'll be down in the 30s. tomorrow mid-40s. a couple of rain or snow showers, eastern shore, upper eastern shore, you may get some minor accumulation. by thursday, sun returns, 53. 58 on friday, and near 70. sunday. ravens have a home game, should be great for that. 4:46, here's monica with time saver traffic. >>reporter: been looking at a serious accident in manassas. balls ford road completely shut down at the prince william parkway. that's just south of i-66. it's a truck involved and a

diesel fuel spill, so that intersection and prince william parkway completely shut down. inbound 66 is not affected by this. but if you're one of those that takes 66 -- the map just moved. let's go back there. if you take 66 and get off at manassas, you'll want to get off off at suddenly road and knock it off the exit before that, just south of i-66. right here is where the road is affected. i know authorities are on the scene there as well. we'll keep you posted on that situation. let's take a live look outside, show you what it looks like close to that point. no problems, as i said, on 66 itself as you travel through manassas. let's go back over to our maps this time to the northbound side of i-95. looking good, triangle to dumbfries, winfield to springfield. a live look at the 14th street bridge, northbound 395, no issues to report as you head into the downtown area. and i'll be back with more on that accident at 4:55. back to you guys. 9 news coverage of election day 2012 continues with some news from wall

street. a number of analysts say the economy will improve over the next four years no matter who wins the presidential election. >> they say consumers are spending more, home prices are on the way up, banks are starting to lend more freeby, both businesses and consumers. some economists predict economic growth up 2% the next year before doubling to 4% in 2014 and 2015. they say the next president's biggest economic challenge will be reducing the $1.1 trillion deficit. >> as many of you get ready to cast your ballots today, there's a good chance some of you are wondering, does my vote even matter. >> we have this electoral college debate almost every time there's a presidential election. deborah alfarone tried to find out if your vote really does count. >>reporter: on the eve of when most will cast the ballot, tonight the question is, do you think your vote count? >> i don't know. with, the bush/gore election,

with the troarl college. >>reporter: the electoral college. you can google it, but when you get to 270, you're the president. does your vote count? >> yes, it does, i'm in northern virginia. >> we're in new hampshire, it's a swing state, so i think it does. >>reporter: location, location, location. where you are equals how much your vote really moves the meter. california has the most electoral votes at 55, d.c., one of the spots that share the least, three. >> we wish we can vote so we can vote for obama. >>reporter: oh. so where are you guys from? >> from italy. >>reporter: the farther down the ballot you go, the more impact. in 19 neuro, the vote for maryland's government was decided by 5,993 votes. in 2010, montana republican tom burnett beat his rifle for the house by -- rival for the house by 71 votes. after a recount in 2010 and king baunanimousian won his minnesota house seat by 13 and we all know what happened here. do you think your vote count?

>> i hope. >>reporter: why is it important to vote? >> exercise your right. if you don't exercise your right, you can't complain. >>reporter: so we asked you what you thought on facebook. cindy hardy says it counts because of the many, many men and women who gave us their lives to give us the freedom to vote. colleen says, yes, my vote counts. the only vote that doesn't count is the one not cast. and lastly, marsha thomas says, yes, vi a friend 51 years of age voting for the first time. so proud of her. better late than never. rock your vote. the change starts with your vote. deborah alfarone, 9 news. well, the redskins loss on sunday play a role in the outcome of the election of 2012? >> it's a fun thing we talk about. it's called the redskins rule. you can call it coincidence or plain old superstition. here's how it goes, according to the so-called redskin's rule, if they lose the last home game before the

presidential election, the incumbent will lose the election. if the skins win, the republican wins. this has been right every time since 1940, except once, 2004. the redskins lost the home game, but president george w. bush still won the reelection. >> we want to know what you think about the redskins rule. check it out on facebook. >> here are some of the responses. quintin williams wrote, there is no redskins rule, but there is coincidence. >> elizabeth wrote doesn't that contradict that 7-11 and halloween predictions? the only way to predict an election is to get out and vote. >> and finally lynn wilson wrote, yeah, but the giants won the world series and when that league wins the series, the incumbent does too. >> that league lynn is referring to is the national league and this is known as the world series, and the presidency. >> right. now the way this rule goes, every time the national league wins the world series during an election year, the democrats win the white house. if the american league wins, the republicans win the white house. >> so as you take into account

the world series, the presidency rule and the red dhp skin rule and maybe halloween and 7-11, the winner of campaign 2012 is up in the air. >> it is. and based on the outcome of the traditional vote in dixville notch in new hampshire, as we told you about, it's a tie, 5-5 votes. that means this is going to be a very long election day, not to mention the polls. >> this is at least the fun side of talking it and it's not a commercial. how about that? taking a look at this morning's health headlines. the head of the food and drug administration has been summondayed to testify next week summoned to testify on the deadly meningitis outbreak. there have been 419 meningitis cases and 30 deaths linked to contaminated steroid shots. this were all distributed by the new england compounding center. the cofounder of the specialty pharmacy has also been summoned to the hearing. in recent weeks inspectors from the fda and massachusetts department of health have reported unsterile conditions

at the facility. howls and senate lawmakers have -- house and senate lawmakers have calls for hearings of why those conditions weren't flagged before and how the outbreak could have been prevented. in other health news, people whose first colonoscopy comes back negative may not need another one. colonoscopies are currently recommended every 10 years. but a new study of the annals of internal medicine finds other kinds of followups, like blood tests and ct scans have the same rates with fewer complications. most experts argue most people prefer to endure a colonoscopy rather than suffer with cancer and survive. time for the question of the morning. >> take a rest. according to the usa today, 26% of american teenagers have never done this. is it, a, write a check, b, write a letter, or c, use a traditional landline phone. >> log onto the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your

response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

four weather first on this tuesday morning. it's a cold one out there, twebilitys and 30s. couple of clouds now, but generally a sunny and cool day. winds five, maybe 10 miles an hour. we'll see highs struggling to get near the 50-degree mark. i'll be back talking about that nor'easter in just a few minutes. right now here's monica with time saver traffic. >>reporter: the story this morning is the accident south of 66 on balls ford road at the prince william parkway. that intersection is shut down here on the northbound side of i-95, things look good in springfield. i'll have more in traffic coming up at 5:01. mike and andrea. >> thanks, monica. we all know that voting is a time-honored tradition. >> what will voting look like with the trend of technology?

we have a look at the future of voting. >>reporter: in this era of mobile devices and cloud computing, voting is a rare holdout, which unlike banking and shopping hasn't migrated to the internet. some say it's only a matter of time before all americans cast ballots online. >> we're seeing it in other parts of the world, states are starting to experiment with voting online, unions are allowing their members to vote online, the technology is getting smarter, the security is getting better. >>reporter: besides the potential benefits, including increased efficiency, greater ballot counting accuracy and higher voter turnout, voting technology could improve civic engage: but online voting must first overcome very valid concerns. how do you prevent hacking and fraud. >> someone takes money out of your bank and the bank says they'll put the money back in. banks have insurance or are self-insured. we have processes in place. but if an election is hacked, we don't really have a way to

undo it. >>reporter: while we may not be voting online anytime soon, there are ways technology is changing the voting experience. myfairelection.com lets you report on conditions at your polling places, like irregularities or broken machines. at tush -- turbovote.com, you can receive texts on election day. it will take more than security software and clever apps to change a centuries-old voting process, but voter engagement is a big win, no matter what your political leanings. in san francisco, i'm sumi does, c-net.com for cbs news. >> thanks for leaning our way this morning. good morning. you are watching 9 news now at 5:00 a.m. i'll lean left and right. independent. >> glad you're here, monica, good morning. happy election day at home if you're just joining us. howard bernstein as your election day forecast. not so bad. >> a cold one th